Past Festivals - 2008 Films

The Heart of Jenin

2008 | 89 minutes

Director: Leon Geller & Marcus Vetter

In November 2005, Ahmed Khatib, a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy from the Jenin refugee camp, was accidentally killed by an Israeli soldier. Despite his grief, the boy’s father Ismael consented to donate his son’s organs to several Israeli children. Thanks to this act of humanity, four of those children, each from a different part of Israeli society, are alive today. The Heart of Jenin explores the legacy of Ismael’s decision during the two years following his son’s death.

The Boys from Lebanon

2008 | 52 minutes

Director: Ohan Ofaz

In May 2000, with the exit of the Israeli Army from Lebanon, the South Lebanese Army (SLA) collapsed and its members fled from Hezbollah fighters into Israel. 700 families of SLA refugees are living in Israel today. This is the story of young Lebanese men struggling to re-build their lives and realize their dreams on the ruins of war in Lebanon and exile in Israel.

Sons of Sakhnin United

2007 | 84 minutes

Director: Christopher Browne

In this insightful and exciting documentary, the small Arab town of Sakhnin has been united by sport, and Jews and Arabs strive for a common goal. Beating the odds in a quixotic quest for Israel’s State Soccer Cup, the multi-ethnic and religious soccer team of Sakhnin battles to maintain their “premiere” league status.

Shorts

70 minutes

Director: Various directors

6.5 Minutes in Tel Aviv
Director: Mirey brantz
Lovers parting, families traveling, businessmen commuting – a Tel-Aviv bus is the setting for an unexpected confrontation brought on by fear and panic.
Best of Festival Award & Best Student Live Action Award, 2008 Palm Springs International ShortFest

Ajameion
Directors: Ziad Bakri, Alex Bakri
Two young Arab men strung into the frustrating reality of the impoverished Jaffa, go onto a prolonged journey for a very basic need – the essential yearning for nothing but a cigarette.

Shades of Light
Director: Maysaloun Hamoud
Laila keeps her talent and aspiration a secret from Ziad, her traditional, hard-working husband. The film follows the couple on the day her secret unveils.

Power
Director: Ayelet Bechar
In the Bedouin Village of Arab El Sawaed in the north of Israel, there are homes built and roads paved by the people themselves but no basic services such as electricity or running water.

Roads
Director: Lior Geller
13-year-old Ismayil searches for a new life for him and his brother outside the Arab drug slums of Lod. Daniel, a traumatized Israeli ex-soldier, buys drugs from Ismayil, escaping his own reality. Here, deep in the sewers of Israeli society, they just might find in each other their way out.
Best short, 2008 Tribeca Film Festival

Lady Kul el-Arab

2008 | 56 minutes

Director: Ibtisam Mara'ana

Angelina, the first Druze woman to attempt significant steps in the Israeli fashion world, finds herself in the middle of a societal conflict when the tradition and values of her village clash with her aspirations to be the first Druze Miss Israel. Her brave choices put her life and dreams in danger as she attempts to defy her community’s ways.

Just Married

2006 | 70 minutes

Director: Ayelet Bechar

The Israeli Citizenship Law states that residents of the Palestinian Authority may not enter Israel, even if married to Israeli citizens. Just Married is the story of two Palestinian couples who decide to marry knowing that it will be impossible for them to live together in Israel.

ID Blues

2008 | 106 minutes

Director: Chaim Yavin

Chaim Yavin takes us on a travel log with his camera among Israel’s Arabs. Compiled of two parts, the first part, entitled “My Blood is Red Like Yours,” ponders the discrimination towards Arabs in Israeli society, including the fields of economics, education, land ownership, and employment. The second part, “Land of the Negev,” deals with Israel’s Bedouin population, torn between rapid modernization and daily destruction.

Fog

2008 | 57 minutes

Director: Rafik Halabi

A fascinating story of bereavement, mysticism and reincarnation, Fog follows the quest to unravel the fate of the missing soldier, First Sergeant Mu’in Halabi, who disappeared at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War. Veteran newsman, Rafik Halabi set out on a journey into time, memory, and the Druze religion, in an attempt to uncover what lies beneath this multi-layered story, and to explore the Druze belief in the re-embodiment of the soul.

Desert Brides

2008 | 90 minutes

Director: Ada Ushpiz

This is the story of three relatively educated and independent women, trying to survive, in their own way, a life of polygamy. The family tragedies presented in this film highlight the strength and survival of social structures and their injustices, leaning usually on the victims’ partial cooperation.

Bridge Over the Wadi

2007 | 55 minutes

Director: Barak & Tomer Heyman

Bridge Over the Wadi captures the struggles and tenacity of the teachers, students and parents during the first year of a bicultural, bilingual Jewish/Arab school located in an Arab village. Parents and students face the hurdles and daily struggles of coexisting.

Arab Labor

2007 | 80 minutes

Director: Roni Ninio

After its successful world premiere at The Other Israel Film Festival last year, Arab Labor is back in the festival with NEW EPISODES, humorously exploring the daily conflicts that Arabs face when interacting with Israeli Jewish society. The series, created and written by Sayed Kashua, follows Amjad, a 35-year-old Arab journalist and his escapades while working for a Jewish newspaper.